


Chocolate Cats & Curry

by orphan_account



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe, Bakery and Coffee Shop, Late Night Conversations, M/M, Makoto and Haru didn't grow up together, Sort of? - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 13:01:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,067
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1551377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Makoto volunteers for an outside study in school, where once a week, you are awoken with a phone call and connected to a random person with whom you can discuss your dreams, or anything else that comes to mind. His first phone call, he is connected with a stranger that he feels an immediate connection to. But will he ever connect with the stranger again? (ohgodsummariesnoooo)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chocolate Cats & Curry

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Call In The Night](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/47732) by Max Hawkins. 



> Welp. This is my first published fanfiction in.... Like, 8 years? And my first ever on this site! So of course, it's gonna be MakoHaru. This fic is completely unedited/unbetaed, so sorry for any grammatical crap you find. The plot is based off an idea I saw on tumblr, for an art experiment called CallintheNight. Someone suggested to write a MakoHaru fic like this, and I couldn't help myself. So here it is! Here's also the link to my post of it on tumblr: [atrishasymphony](http://atrishasymphony.tumblr.com/post/84434890300/chocolate-cats-curr)  
> Anyways, enjoy!

The first time Makoto picked up the phone at two in the morning, he was too tired to try and focus on what he might have been dreaming about, that he rambled on for a solid five minutes about cats cooking curry before he realized what was happening.

“…And then the little white one served me a plate of it, but before I got to try it, the oven timer went off because the chocolate cake they were baking was finished and…” He paused, embarrassment suddenly flooding his body as he realized he’d been practically sleep talking to a perfect stranger about cats and food. The embarrassed silence was broken by a mild, low voice responding, almost hesitantly,

“So… You, like cats then?”

A chill ran down Makoto’s spine at the sound. There was something calming about the voice, like warm chocolate on a cold day. And yet he still wanted to smack himself on the head. He hadn’t quite understood the purpose of the project he had volunteered for—all he knew was that someone had come to his school and asked for students that would be interested in a dream study, to wake up once a week at two in the morning, to be connected to a random person and discuss dreams, or whatever else came to mind. He wasn’t sure why he had volunteered, but here he was at 2:07 in the morning babbling to a perfect stranger.

But the warmth he felt, and the conflicting chill that rolled through his body at the sound of this stranger’s voice, surprised him. Makoto couldn’t help but feel as though he had known this person his whole life.

“I—never mind—this is stupid…” the voice quietly pressed through the phone line and Makoto jumped, surprised that he had been quiet for so long without answering the stranger.

“No! No, wait, err, I mean, yes! I, I do like cats!” Ready to smack himself on the head again at his overly anxious and broken response, Makoto knew he wasn’t ready to hang up with the stranger yet. Not yet.

“Heh, sorry, ummm, let me start over maybe. My name is—” Makoto paused for a moment; as drawn as he felt to this voice, was it really appropriate, or safe even, to share any personal information with this person?

“Makoto. My name is Makoto.” This was a private study, with callers paired at random, and the likelihood of ever hearing that voice again made Makoto want the stranger to know his name. If they never spoke again, then at least this stranger would know his name, even if Makoto meant nothing to him.

It was quiet on the other end, and then—

“…Makoto. My name is Haruka.” Surprised at the response, Makoto felt his heart skip a beat twice—first at the sound of his own name spilling softly from the stranger’s lips, and then at the three syllables that created the stranger—Haruka’s name.

From there, Makoto felt an instant ease with Haruka and they ended up speaking (with Makoto mostly speaking, and Haruka mostly listening) for nearly four hours. It wasn’t until Makoto saw the first streaks of dawn sifting through his window that he realized he would have to be getting up for school soon.

“Oh, god!” He exclaimed, sitting up in his bed and grabbing his alarm clock to stare at the bright green numbers. “It’s almost 6:30! I have to get up for school soon. I am so sorry Haruka, I’ve been talking all night, and I didn’t even notice, I—” he stopped, embarrassment once again taking over as he realized how easily he’d spent the night talking about anything and everything with someone he’d never met.

“I am very sorry for keeping you up, Haruka-san, please forgive me.” Makoto waited nervously, worried that perhaps he had annoyed Haruka.

“… Call me Haru.” Makoto’s breath caught in his throat, and he sat stock still, almost afraid to move.

“A-alright, Haru.” Haru’s name was hardly anything more than an exhalation of the breath Makoto had been holding. “Good night, well, good morning, I guess,” a shaky laugh followed his goodbye, but he didn’t feel like laughing at all.

“Good night, Makoto.” There was a long pause, where neither boy hung up, and both sat quietly, with only the sound of their breathing breaking the still, early morning air. Finally—

A click.

And Makoto’s phone fell into his lap while he stared at the wall opposite his bed. Though the sun had bathed his room in glorious pinks and purples, his heart felt as if it had just shriveled up and stopped with the click of call ending. He took in a deep, shuddering breath and ran a hand through his olive brown hair.

School would be especially hard today.

 

//

 

A week later, this time at 3:26 in the morning, Makoto received another phone call. Wide-awake, and jamming his thumb into the “Answer Call” button, he waited.

A light, feminine voice, drowsy with sleep yawned her way through a “hello.” Immediately, Makoto’s racing heart sunk to his stomach and he felt ill. Out of politeness, and responsibility to the project that he had volunteered for, he spoke with the stranger for a few minutes, before she mumbled an apology, but she had to go.

Makoto didn’t answer those phone calls again after that.

 

//

 

221 days later, early in the morning, Makoto went with his friends to a new café that had opened up in the town next to Iwatobi. Makoto and his three friends, Nagisa, Rin, and Rei, went at Nagisa’s urging, claiming that this shop sold the best sweets within a three hour drive.

(How Nagisa knew that it was the best compared to the many cafes that must have been within three hours distance, was a mystery that the other boys didn’t want to know the answer to.)

The tiny building was unassuming, and yet, there was a subtle charm to it. Squeezed in between a pet store and a music shop, the whitewashed front of the building stood out along the quiet street, the pretty blue script above the door inviting everyone inside.

Nagisa charged in first, pulling Rei along with him and declaring that, “I have to get the best sweets, Rei-Chan! That’s why we had to come so early!” Rin and Makoto exchanged a smile before quietly going inside behind them.

The smell was sweet, but tempered by the bitter scent of coffee brewing on the clean, navy blue counter in the center of the café. Yet, Makoto thought something he smelled something distinctly salty as well. As Nagisa rang a tiny bell on the counter, a young man with dark hair and light skin noiselessly walked through a back door, carrying a tray of freshly baked goods.

After placing the tray in a glass display shelf on top of the counters, the young man turned to Nagisa and silently waited for his order.

Makoto moved closer, wanting to get a better look at the different scones, muffins, and breads that were assorted in pretty glass shelves along and underneath the counters, but he paused when he got close enough to see the young employee as well.

Nearly covered by his black hair, two ocean-blue eyes briefly met Makoto’s before turning back to Nagisa. A familiar and unexpected thrill ran down Makoto’s spine, and he stepped even closer, waiting behind Nagisa as he finished his order.

“…Oh, and a blueberry scone for my friend Rei! Cos he’s a bluebe-Rei! Get it?” Nagisa chirped, Makoto stifling a chuckle as he shook his head at his friend’s antics. Rei merely turned his head and scoffed. Nagisa loved to make that joke.

The dark haired teen finished ringing up Nagisa’s order and quietly read him the total. Makoto strained to hear his voice, unsure why it mattered so much to him. Subconsciously, his hand played with his phone in his pocket, suddenly feeling restless.

Nagisa finished paying and gently pushed Makoto forward, breaking his reverie.

“Your turn Mako-Chan! You should definitely try their chocolates! Look, they’ve got one shaped like a kitty, even!” Makoto blushed, suddenly embarrassed by Nagisa’s antics, when the employee, with a voice as quiet as ever, asked,

“So… You like cats then?”

Makoto’s heart stopped as he looked up at those blue eyes again.

He knew that voice. But how could he possibly be here? With wide eyes, he looked down at the young man’s nametag.

 _Haruka_.

“H-Haru?!” Makoto leaned forward, suddenly unsure if perhaps he was still at home in bed, asleep and dreaming. This couldn’t be real.

But there was a minute widening of those azure eyes, and this Haruka stood silently for a moment, until,

“…Makoto?”

A burst of laughter shocked both of them, before Makoto realized it came from himself.

“I, I can’t believe this! I never thought I’d talk to you again, let alone find you work in a store half an hour from me!”

Makoto’s enthusiasm caused a dusting of pink to rise on Haru’s cheeks, and his head swiftly angled down, but all Makoto could see was the rise and fall of Haru’s adam’s apple as he swallowed. Emboldened by this seemingly impossible turn of events, Makoto continued in a lower tone, still aware of his friends and the confused faces they were making at this interaction.

“Did you… Did you ever want to talk to me again?”

Haru quickly looked up, the delicate line of his brows furrowing while his eyes flashed with a sudden intensity.

“That’s not fair.”

“E-eh?”

Haru continued quickly, his voice hardly louder than sigh:

 “How could I have possibly ever talked to you again? The likelihood of hearing from you again when I was constantly paired with countless other strangers, was practically impossible, wasn’t it?”

Makoto stood still, unable to answer. Haru’s answer was the very reason Makoto had given up on the study. But it seemed as though Haru kept trying, putting up with late night calls from strangers and discussing whatever they wanted. Had Haru been waiting for Makoto while Makoto had given up ever hearing him? Before Makoto had a chance to contemplate this any further, Haruka’s body drew closer to Makoto and he continued speaking in that gentle tone.

“It… It wasn’t a matter of not wanting to… It was… I just knew that it was impossible.”

If Makoto had tried, he could not have been able to describe the way his heart felt in those few short minutes. It felt like, his heart was ready to burst, and yet it also felt like it was being squeezed tight until he couldn’t breathe.

And it was glorious.

“Haru…” At some point, Haru’s eyes had become glued to the countertop, but hearing his name, in the tender way it passed across Makoto’s lips, brought his head back up. His eyes were now fixed on Makoto’s.

“Do you think…? Do you want to talk to me now?” While his face showed no change in expression, Makoto realized it was Haru’s eyes that expressed him. The pupils of his eyes dilated, and Makoto could have sworn that his irises even darkened as well. Yet Haru remained silent. Makoto could hear Nagisa scuffing his shoes against the floor at a table behind him, while Rin muttered quietly about getting some air. The sound of two chairs scraping against the tiled floors alerted Makoto to his friends moving around, Rei’s voice mentioning something about joining Rin.

But Makoto couldn’t hear much else. He was waiting for Haru.

“Yes.” The quiet affirmation sent Makoto’s pulse racing and his hands fumbling with his phone to place it on the counter in front of him.

“Please call me anytime Haru! Even if it’s at 2 in the morn—” Makoto’s voice caught in his throat as Haru’s hands gently brushed his to take Makoto’s phone. Nimble fingers worked their way quickly through his phone, almost with a sense of familiarity. It wasn’t until Haru finished, and pulled out his own phone, that Makoto realized it was because they had the same model phone.

“Anytime.” Haru gently pressed his phone into Makoto’s hands, but Makoto couldn’t take it yet. He was too distracted by the feel of Haru’s hands against his, and the curvature of the dark haired boy’s lips that created a subtle smile.

“ _Anytime_ ,” Makoto repeated breathlessly.


End file.
